UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Friday called for independent investigations into dozens of deaths in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. He called on authorities to take immediate action to prevent further deaths as the number of deaths in custody continues to rise.
According to Türk, at least 52 people have died in ICE custody since the beginning of 2025, after US President Donald Trump returned to office and the administration expanded its immigration controls. The bureau reported that 18 people died in ICE custody in the first five months of the year, with one additional death recorded in June, while there were 33 deaths documented in 2025 in total.
Türk stressed that governments have an obligation under international human rights law to protect the right to life, especially when individuals are deprived of their freedom. In addition, authorities must provide detainees with adequate medical care and other necessary protections while in custody, he suggested.
Human Rights Watch issued a similar warning on Thursday. Also the group found that under ICE policyThe government is expected to provide families with relevant information following a death in custody, including medical records and investigative findings.
However, a report from Physicians for Human Rights completed that in all 39 cases it reviewed, the government failed to publicly disclose sufficient information about the circumstances of the deaths or the medical treatment provided in custody, preventing independent clinical assessment.
Earlier this year, Turk expressed Concerns about immigration enforcement practices and states that individuals suspected of not having legal immigration status are subject to surveillance, arrest and detention, in some cases with the use of force, in hospitals, places of worship, courthouses, schools, markets and private homes. He stressed that international human rights law authorizes the intentional use of lethal force only as a last resort against a person who poses an imminent threat to life.
ICE is supposedly hold onto more than 60,000 people, compared to around 40,000 prisoners at the beginning of 2025, and has announced Plans to expand detention capacity to 90,000 by the end of 2026.
According to Human Rights Watch, the mortality The rate in ICE detention has reached its highest level in more than a decade and is exceeding rates recorded both during the first Trump administration and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Both the group and the United Nations have called for urgent action to ensure accountability for deaths in custody and to protect the lives of those held in immigration detention.
